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He pulled the first and flipped through it quickly. “Burke. That’s not one of the names on your list.”
“No.” Zoey stepped closer to him. “My first foster family was Leon and Tabora Burke.”
“Surprise, surprise.” He waved the file around for a moment. “Mrs. Tabora Burke.”
“I didn’t know they lived in this region. Other than their names, I don’t know much about them. Just…I was doing well there, and then…one day the case worker requested I be moved. A week later, I was moved. I was younger than two or so, I think.”
She didn’t have a warrant for that particular file. Zoey knew better than to even touch. “But it’s not on my list, so I’m going to…follow the rules.”
“Ok, moving on. And…I’m sorry, kid. That completely sucks, that they’d do that to you. We need more of the good foster parents out there.”
“More and more of the good are quitting every single day. The system breaks them, too. I’ve thought about it. Getting licensed. We have a few social workers with Blessed Reunions. And Gretchen is licensed in the state of Missouri. Kevin Beck has a license for temporary care here in Texas. If it’s ever needed by Blessed Reunions. Most times teens run away because of problems at home that they need help mediating. Temporary care might just be needed.”
“Cam’s told me some things. He really takes missing kids cases to heart.” Murdoch paused and looked at her. “Hell, so do I. I’m still looking for your phantom caller, babe. And I’ll find her eventually. I promise.”
Zoey nodded. She was still looking, too. “I thought it might be a good idea to get licensed, since I’ll be doing most of the day-to-day running of Blessed Reunions. At least until Sydney gets her law degree. There are far too few homes out there, too. And not all of the ones out there aregood.The really good foster parents struggle with the system to keep going. It burns them out fast.”
“I think you’d be a good one.” Murdoch came up behind her. His hand cupped her shoulder. “Because you care. It’s obvious, Zo. And that’s one of your superpowers. And you are damned good at being a mom.”
There was a look in his eyes that disconcerted her. One that said he was seeing deeper inside her soul than anyone ever really had before. “We should…get back to work. This place kind of gives me the creeps.”
“Why?”
“I was probably born at FCGH, but it says I was born here. And that discrepancy—I don’t even know if my name and birthdate are authentic.”
“And you are afraid of what you’ll find out. I get that. But…at heart, babe. You are stillyou.The woman who utterly captured me heart and soul. The woman who loves her little sister, who loves the rest of her insanely overachieving family, and who…is damned extraordinary. Don’t forget that.”
“Sometimes, I just don’t know what to think about you. I don’t know if I ever will.”
“Then let’s find those answers. I have Burke, Burle, Burns, and Burton. Let’s keep going.”
Five minutes later, near the back of the first cabinet, Murdoch pulled out what they were there to find. “Woot! I have Dee Davis, right here.”
“That’s it. That’s the one we were missing.”
“Then here you go. It’s all yours.”
62
She was backat her little bungalow, the cat curled up on her bed at her feet. With Dee Davis’s file in front of her.
Murdoch Michael was out helping Neil run down a bail jumper who had removed his monitor. Murdoch had promised he’d come back. Zoey was pretendingnotto be waiting for him.
She was failing miserably. But she had the files they’d found that evening in front of her now. She knew the truth—she was pretending. To herself, mostly.
She forced herselfbackto what she should be doing.
The names were what jumped at Zoey first. The doctor who had supposedly delivered Dee Davis’s children at the Garrity Medical Clinic had been Dr. Wallace Henedy. According to Dee Davis’s files at FCGH, seven babies had been delivered by a Dr. Joseph Daniels. And a Dr. Ronald Gaines. Dr. Henedy hadn’t even moved to Texas until fifteen to twenty years ago.
She knew all about Dr. Wallace Henedy—the man had tried to kill her sister-in-law Nikkie Jean, after all. Dr. Wallace Henedy’s whereabouts had already been well documented. For thirty something years. Dr. Jordan Carrington, Nikkie Jean’s father, was sixty-one right now. Jordan had tutored the slightly younger Henedy through medical school.
Henedy had been too young to have actually been there for Caine and Rafe’s birth.
That was another avenue she’d have to have Sydney and Grace go down when they could.
Why had someone used Henedy’s name? Had it happened after the man’s arrest for nearly killing Nikkie Jean? And how had they done it so quickly? What were they worried about coming out now? It had to be a way to cover something—she needed to find that something.
Dee Davis had had seven children, according to the files. Luciano—Zoey was assuming that eventually became David Lucien Daviess, Cole Gregory Davis, Caine and Abel Alvaro—Abel was changed to Rafael by the Deanes after they’d bought Rafe from Denise. Page Jane Davis—no brainer, there, that one eventually became Paige Jayne Daviess. Followed by a jump of three years before Zoe Sophia Davis and then Ariella Dawn Avery.
